(7/9) Taking a Stand Against Maya

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Nrisingha Palli, 3 February 2021, part 7
Translated from Bengali

We have a disciple of Gurudev in Begumpur who has received two bighas of land (1.2 acres) – he plants vegetables there himself and runs his family with that. They also have two sons who go to school… He is working so hard to maintain his family. Their family had six bighas of land, and there are five brothers and their father. The father took initiation and stayed with his initiated son, so the devotee ended up getting two bighas of land. I know how hard it is to do agriculture. I used to cultivate the land, too. Every year I planted rice (two times), mustard (one time), and also some wheat around the perimeter (the yield was 14–15 maund, or 560–600 kg). It also gave straw for the cows at the temple. Here, at Nrisingha Palli, it is difficult with the cows. One man told me, ‘I will come in Paush (January–February),’ but then his wife came for him, and after that his sons came for him…

It is not so easy to practise Krishna consciousness. You must know where your interest lies and be selfish in that sense. My own parents cried so much for me, but I still ran away. That man told me, ‘I will never run away, I will come in January/February,’ but I told him, ‘You will not be able to come…’ And this is what happened. His wife beat him, so he wanted to come here, but when he came, his wife showed some affection to him, and he went back. Such is the pull of material life… His son also cried for him.

So, it is not so easy to come to this line – you must have fortune to practise Krishna consciousness. First, there must be sukriti. You cannot practise Krishna consciousness without sukriti.

Yes, they will cry, so what? Let them cry. Your mother, father, brother, sister, relatives, sons, daughters – let them all cry! You must be hard with them, ‘No, I will practise Krishna consciousness! By hook or by crook, but I will practise Krishna consciousness. I will not surrender to Maya and run behind any desires.’ You must always try to be like that; otherwise, you cannot practise Krishna consciousness…

Later this determination will bring you a good result. Have patience. That is why it is said, ‘Chitta sthira habe, sakala sahiba, ekante bhajiba hari (চিত্ত স্থির হবে, সকল সহিব, একান্তে ভজিব হরি). My heart will become steadfast, I will tolerate everything, and I will serve the Lord sincerely’ (Saranagati). You must tolerate everything. Tolerate all unhappiness, all struggles, all austerities. Practise Krishna consciousness exclusively; be one-pointed.

Those who first stayed at the temple but then went back to their homes got much austerity in the end. For example, there was one disciple of Srila Sridhar Maharaj who lived at the temple as a brahmachari. His parents forcefully took him away and got him married. He had three daughters, and he had managed to get only his youngest daughter married when he had a stroke. Later, his daughters took initiation from me. So, at least it is good that his daughters are practising Krishna consciousness, but their father’s life finished… So, when you are not strong enough, such a situation will come in your life that you will be dismissed from spiritual life – you become cheated and lose your service to your guru. We must be always very careful. You must know what you want in life – you must know where your interest lies.

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Size: 40 Mb
Length: 81 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Have You Forgotten?
2) Morning Shows the Day
3) Genuine Surrender
4) In Search of Hidden Treasure
5) Humility and Dedication
6) Jnana-Sunya Bhakti
7) Taking a Stand Against Maya
8) Be One-Pointed
9) A Word of Warning